Recyclebank, a company that rewards people for taking everyday green actions with discounts and deals, has announced a 27 percent reduction in its corporate carbon emissions, down from 830 metric tons in 2011 to 602 metric tons in 2012.
Since 2009, Recyclebank has partnered with NativeEnergy to calculate the company’s greenhouse gas emissions, paving the way for Recyclebank to reduce its operational footprint. Each year, Recyclebank offsets its remaining emissions partnering with NativeEnergy, providing critical funding for GHG reduction projects.
“Our drastic reduction in emissions is largely based on a better realization of the various impacts of our operations,” said Recyclebank CEO Jonathan K. Hsu. “With this knowledge, and NativeEnergy’s expertise, we made necessary adjustments to lessen our greenhouse gas pollution and remain committed to further reducing our carbon footprint.”
Through the purchase of carbon offsets, Recyclebank says it also is investing in NativeEnergy’s Help Build project in Siaya and Bond, Kenya. The project is installing more than 1,200 water filters in homes and schools where limited access to clean water places an especially heavy burden on women, and waterborne illness is the leading cause of child mortality.
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Without the water filters, many households use firewood to boil water collected from watering holes, ponds and untreated community wells. Benefits extend beyond the carbon offset from the avoided burning of firewood — in a region where half of hospital visits are related to issues of water, sanitation and hygiene, the water filters have been shown to remove as much as 99.8 percent of deadly parasites and reduce diarrhea by 47 percent, Recyclebank says.
“Support from Recyclebank and our other corporate partners changes lives for the some of the most vulnerable people in the world,” said Jeff Bernicke, president of NativeEnergy. “We applaud Recyclebank for its commitment to first reduce their emissions, and then offset the balance through investing in important small-scale sustainability projects.”
In previous years Recyclebank and NativeEnergy also have partnered on the Greensburg Wind Farm and the Wewoka Biogas Project, funding clean energy projects that needed carbon offset revenues in order to break ground.
Earlier in the year, Recyclebank announced its backing of some 27 environmental projects at schools across the country through the Recyclebank Green Schools Program, which supports environmental projects that make a positive impact on students and their communities.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Jun 28, 2013 3am EDT / 12am PDT / 8am BST / 9am CEST